Chapter 6 – A shining parade

Rory's POV

Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own anything to do with Gilmore Girls. There are lots of book and author references in this chapter, and I own none of those either!

A/N: Good things happen in this chapter, as I think the title implies (This song is actually working really well for the chapters, I think), but I know there's some sad stuff in the story. It won't have a depressing ending, I promise! Thanks again to everyone for the reviews, they're GREAT! I hope you like this chapter. Also, there will be more action in future chapters (I mean important things happening, not literati stuff, though that will be included too, of course). So, on with the story!    ~Arianna

I was walking with Jess. I was walking with Jess. Okay, my mom had been right. I liked Jess, liked him a lot. I didn't…I still liked Dean. It just wasn't the same anymore.

We got to the diner.

"See ya in a few hours, right?" Jess called as he left.

"Of course! I can't go the rest of the day without Luke's coffee."

"Good. Because I still don't get that last problem."

I grinned. "Can't wait!" Then I hurried to the Independence Inn. My mom was standing behind the desk, filling out some papers.

"Hey," I said.

"Hiiii!"

"You're excited, huh?" I remarked.

"Yeah!"

"Want to tell me why?"

"Okay, Sookie came up with this great idea, you're gonna love it! Jackson has this friend who works for a literacy foundation, right? So Sookie decided to host this dinner, based on—drumroll please—classic novels. 18th century food, readings, book lists, the whole thing. It's five dollars per person; all the money is going to this charity."

My eyes lit up. "That sounds great!" I said, excited. "I can't wait, it's going to be so much fun."

"Yeah, I know. And we were hoping you could come up with about ten books to base it on, you know what I mean?"

"Sure!"

"The dinner's in almost three weeks, it's on Saturday."

"This is perfect. Even Taylor might like it." Mom stared at me. I laughed.

"So, you ready to go?"

"What, you're ready?"

"Oh yeah. Let's celebrate at Luke's!"

"To Luke's!" I agreed. This had actually been a great day. Mom and I hurried to Luke's and sat at the counter. Jess came over and poured the coffee.

"That was fast," he said, grinning.

"What can I say?" I replied, smiling back.

"What does he mean that was fast?" Mom whispered to me.

"Uh, he just asked earlier if I'd be at Luke's in a few hours."

"He did, did he?"

"Mom!" Jess came back over.

"Hey," he said to me, quietly. "Don't pay for your coffee, okay?"

"Not okay. Jess, I already owe you a dollar-fifty!"

"You don't owe me anything. This is for studying with me."

"Thanks," I said at last. Jess went back into the kitchen to refill the coffee. "Do not say anything," I warned my mom.

"I just remembered! I have to get something from Doose's before it closes! I'll be back!" My mom jumped up and ran outside.

"Jess?" I called, after she left.

"Yeah?" he came back over.

"Guess what?" I didn't give him a chance to guess. "In three weeks, there's going to be a literacy dinner at my mom's Inn. It's gonna be based on classic novels, and my mom asked if I would come up with a list of ten or so novels to base it on."

"Sounds like your kind of thing."

"Definitely. But I was wondering…would you like to help?"

"Really?"

"Who else would be better at it than you?"

"You got your list here?" I pulled a folded sheet of paper out of my pocket.

"Ready and waiting."

"The Sun Also Rises."

"Oh, right, the only good Hemingway."

"One of the many good Hemingway books," Jess countered.

"Fine then," I said, grinning. "Next is The Fountainhead."

"Oliver Twist."

"Great Expectations," I added quickly. "Now it gets difficult."

"How?" You mean you can't list 100 of your favorite books?"

"Jess. 200. The hard part is choosing the six or seven best books of those not already mentioned."

"They have to be different authors, right?" Jess asked.

"Yeah, they do," I answered. "There has to be one by Charlotte or Emily Bronte, one by Jane Austen—"

"Faulkner. Tolstoy?" Jess wondered aloud.

"I don't know…" I loved talking about books with Jess. He was the only person I'd ever known who understood the way I thought about books, my opinions on authors, on stories, on different kinds of novels. There wasn't anyone else in Stars Hollow I could argue with about Ayn Rand and Hemingway. And I knew I was probably the only person, except maybe Luke, who knew that Jess read Bronte and Austen.

"You have to include Pride and Prejudice," Jess told me, bringing me back to Luke's Diner from my thoughts about Jess.

"Oh, definitely," I agreed, writing it down. "That's probably most classic of Jane Austen's novels."

"No," Jess disagreed, "Mansfield Park is."

"I liked that a lot, but…" We talked for a long time. I didn't notice how weird it was that Luke wasn't yelling at Jess to pour the coffee. After about an hour, I realized that Lorelai hadn't come back. By that time Jess and I had come up with a list of books that included Dickens, Austen, Hemingway, Bronte, Rand, Faulkner, Melville, and Proust. I was still arguing with him about Gore Vidal and Eudora Welty.

I hadn't seen Dean in two days, and I didn't miss him. Not really.

"Jess…" I said at last. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Thanks for talking to me, Rory," he said.

"Hey. I'll read Farewell to Arms. I promise." Jess grinned.

"Way ahead of you. I'm almost halfway through The Fountainhead."

I smiled happily. Jess was reading a book he hated because I liked it. He was reading it for me. And the truth was, I'd promised to read Farewell to Arms because I knew he'd want me to.

"Are you liking it so far?" I asked.

"I thought you had to go."

"I did. I do. I just—" Jess put his hand on my arm.

"I didn't mean I want you to leave."

"I know. Bye, Jess."

"See ya later," he answered.